Four municipal council members in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and joined the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Friday, a day before the council is due to elect a new acting mayor.
Ahmet Başbaydar, Ayhan Aydın, Hüseyin Kazan and Tahsin Usta formally joined the AK Party at a ceremony held at the party’s Üsküdar district headquarters, according to the AK Party’s Istanbul provincial organization.
The defections narrowed the balance in the Üsküdar Municipal Council to 23 CHP members and 21 members of the People’s Alliance ahead of Saturday’s vote.
Speaking on behalf of the four council members, Usta said they had decided to switch parties because they believed they could better serve Üsküdar under the AK Party.
"We resigned from the Republican People’s Party and joined the AK Party to provide greater service to the people of Üsküdar,” Usta said, acknowledging that the decision had been difficult.
Usta denied that the four had faced pressure, threats or entered into negotiations in exchange for changing parties.
"We were under no pressure, faced no threats and were not involved in any bargaining,” he emphasized. "We aim to better serve Üsküdar, and we believe we can achieve that under this roof.”
AK Party Istanbul provincial Chair Abdullah Özdemir welcomed the four members, saying their experience would contribute to the party’s work in the district.
"We are excited and happy for Üsküdar,” Özdemir said, adding that the party intended to work with the municipal council and local stakeholders to address residents’ needs.
The political shift comes ahead of a closely watched council meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday to elect a new acting mayor following a court dispute over the previous election.
Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was arrested on July 31 as part of an investigation involving allegations of establishing a criminal organization, bribery and extortion. She was subsequently suspended from office by the Interior Ministry.
On Aug. 5, the municipal council elected CHP council member Sibel Tan Çetinkaya as acting mayor.
The election was later challenged in court, and Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court suspended the implementation of the council decision.
Following the court decision, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced that the municipal council would reconvene on Sept. 5 to elect a new acting mayor under Article 45 of Türkiye’s Municipal Law.
The four defections leave the CHP with a two-seat advantage over the People’s Alliance in the council, raising the stakes ahead of Saturday’s election.
The AK Party has attracted many mayors from the CHP since the 2024 municipal elections. The last high-profile CHP figure to join the AK Party was Burcu Köksal of Afyon province in western Türkiye. The AK Party has also rejected several applications from CHP mayors seeking to join its ranks for various reasons.